Dangerous lack of fire safety compliance at Gauteng Hospitals, says DA’s Jack Bloom
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South Africa - Johannesburg - 16 April 2021 - Members of the emergency services at Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital following a fire that broke out around 11am this morning, the fire affected the dispensary where all the dry and medical items are kept.Picture: Itumeleng English/ African News Agency(ANA)
Johannesburg - Gauteng hospitals are easy targets for arson as most of them do not have adequate measures to reduce the risk of fire, said DA MEC for Health Jack Bloom.
"The only hospitals with valid fire certificates are the Thelle Mogoerane and Bertha Gxowa hospitals. While the Jubilee and Odi hospitals claim they have valid certificates, this is only for part of their buildings as they do not have fully-functional fire detection systems," Bloom said.
According to Bloom, the responsibility for fire code compliance lies with the provincial Department of Infrastructure Development (DID) and hospital chief executive officers.
"Fire assessments should be done annually by the local authority and by the DID, but this does not always happen, and those that are done do not result in compliant hospitals," he said.
Bloom said that in the case of Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, the last fire assessment was done in 2016, and the hospital was found to be non-compliant.
"They recently engaged the City of Johannesburg and are awaiting the report on an inspection done in October last year," he said.
Bloom said some hospitals say they can be forced to stop operating if they are declared a fire hazard, while others claim they will remain open due to their critical mandate to provide health care.
"There have been at least eight Gauteng hospital fires in the last seven years. These occurred at the Charlotte Maxeke, Chris Hani Baragwanath, Steve Biko, Tambo, Bheki Mlangeni and Carletonville hospitals, but none of them have adequate fire prevention measures to prevent a repeat," he said.
Bloom said it was scandalous so little had been done to upgrade fire security at hospitals.
"We need to know what firm measures are being taken to ensure staff and patients are protected from fire hazards," he said.
Bloom said Charlotte Maxeke was non-compliant because it could only obtain a valid fire clearance if it complied with the relevant fire by-laws. George Mukhari Hospital was non-compliant due to old infrastructure and a lack of maintenance.
"At Steve Biko Hospital, the ancient architecture poses a problem in meeting the revised and latest safety requirements."
Tembisa Hospital had non-compliant hospital infrastructure (safety hazards) and insufficient fire equipment. Helen Joseph Hospital had no hospital floor plans and the fire detection did not cover not all areas.
Kalafong Hospital had no floor plans. At Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, the facilities needed to be inspected and assessed for compliance, and a fire detection system needed to be installed.
The Star had attempted to contact the Gauteng Health Department for comment, but there was no comment given at the time the paper was ready for publication.
The Star